Animal Hunting

Right or wrong?By Huriana Nikora and Nicole Tait

Contents What is hunting? What are hunted

? DOC Advantages/Disadvantages Arguments against Arguments for Costs of Hunting Trophy Hunting Duck shooting Poison 1080 Pig hunting Deer Stalking

Conclusion Bibliography

What is hunting ? Hunting is a very popular

pursuit to which people have often turned into a hobbie and/or competition.

With hunting, New Zealand has no bag-limits nor seasons (except for duck shooting) for hunting large game such as deer.

A number of foreign tourists come to New Zealand for hunting as part of guided tours or as independent hunters

There are a wide variety of common animals that are hunted in New Zealand. The most common ones include –

- Chamois - Pigs - Deer - Ducks - Tahr - Pests These animals are genuinely

hunted for skin, wool, meat or possibly for pure fun and as a hobbie.

However pests are shot due to the infection/risk they may produce for dairy herds, beef herds, and sheep herds.

What are hunted?

Department of Conservation (DOC) When hunting in any form of

fields (public or private) a permit must be obtained for access to fields and for use of firearms.

“Each person within a hunting party must have a separate permit, whether hunting with a firearm, bow or knife. Permits cannot be transferred to, or be used by, anyone else”

DOC permits can either be restricted or open

If a hunter is hunting on their own farm, no permit is required unless the farm is within a reasonable distance to any public area

It is also illegal to go hunting with dogs on public fields without a dog permit

This is to prevent out of control dog from killing any native birds in the area

Advantages Pest Control (if hunting

pests) Some people stick to

traditions from our ancestors

Hunting animals may be their only meat source

Decreasing numbers in most species

Creating more issues within a community (people protesting/disagreeing with the idea)

Decreasing the chances of future generations to have any form of wild life.

Disadvantages

Arguments against Anti-hunting parties argue that

hunting is unsafe, ineffective, unnecessary and often unethical

Lands managed for hunting are sometimes purchased and maintained with tax dollars, even though only 50% of New Zealanders hunt.

Hunting opponents also find hunting unethical on a number of grounds, due to the fact of killing an animal for food is morally objectionable, whether it’s a deer, cow or a chicken.

The way in which the animal is killed can be unethical to some people

Arguments for : Hunters agree that shooting an

animal is far more better than poisoning it as shooting will immediately kill them, poisoning makes them suffer in pain.

Hunters argue that hunting is a tradition and a ritual in some cultures, and may also be referred to as a bonding experience.

Hunters argue that hunting is an effective form of deer management because it will remove a number of individual deer from a population and prevent them from reproducing. This also relates to other hunted animals such as pigs and other pests.

The cost of hunting Silent bush stalking techniques

are required especially for the New Zealand forests as the climates change very often.

Charges for a guide vary depending on the services and species being hunted, but averages out at NZ$450.00 per day this includes food, equipment, accommodation on the hunt.

There is also a trophy fee when an animal is shot. The fee usually go to the landowner for use of the land.

Trophy Hunting When it comes to trophy

hunting, they have a longer life span due to their characteristics e.g antlers on steers

Hunters are flown to higher altitude via helicopter, and either shoot from above or on foot.

Duck Shooting Duck shooting in New Zealand is

as popular as deer stalking Duck shooting is known to be a

very social sport which usually gets the whole family together

Duck shooting season usually starts on the 1st of May an ends in July.

The ‘game birds’ that are usually hunted include; Waterfowl (ducks & swans) and Pukeko

There are also a variety of protected species such as Grey Teal, Scaup (Black Teal), Whio, Pateke (Brown Teal)

There is also an Upland hunting which is a different bird game to waterfowl hunting , it requires more walking

The Upland season begins on the first weekend of May and ends mid-August.

Each Hunter can shoot up to 50 duck PER DAY however there is no limit on geese.

Poison/pest eradication Must be a registered

handler of poison and follow safety requirements with caution

Huge part of NZ’s acts to save the native birds

Poison acts very slowly causing hours of suffering before the animal actually dies.

1080 poison

Kills specific animals DOC researched the affect

on other animals and waterways. All eels came back 100% healthy.

1080 is made from the defence mechanisms of plant

Cats, dogs and pigs are most susceptible towards the natural toxin.

NZ is the highest user of 1080 due to no native land mammals

Pig Hunting Pig hunting is a very

aggressive form of hunting

Pigs are either shot or left to bleed to death. People consider this sport unethical and unfair to the animals

Along with the pigs, the dogs often get badly injured or killed.

Deer stalking

We believe that this is the more ethical form of hunting because the animal does not suffer if they are shot clean. In its natural habitat without any stress or pain

Conclusion “The hunting debate may never be

resolved. The two sides will continue to debate safety, effectiveness and cost, but will probably never agree on the ethics of killing wild animals for food, trophies or recreation .”

- Doris Lin, Esg

Any Questions ?

References : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunting_in_New_Zealand http://

animalrights.about.com/od/wildlife/a/HuntingArgument.htm

http://www.fishnhunt.co.nz/hunting/biggame.htm http://auckland.fishandgame.org.nz/game-bird-species en.wikipedia.org/wiki/sodium_fluoroacetate www.huntright.org/where-we-stand/respnsible-hunting